The present invention relates generally to a system, method and software application for storing, retrieving, and displaying information. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system, method and software application which allows for the interactive storage, retrieval, and display of agent identifying information and agent commission information. The present invention allows users to more easily and conveniently access and verify agent identifying information and agent commission information.
Insurance companies generally offer a wide variety of insurance and financial plans suited for various types of individuals and circumstances. To offer and manage these plans, insurance companies generally rely on great numbers of agents and insurance agents (hereafter collectively referred to as “agents”) to sell and issue insurance policies to individual policy holders on their behalf. Each insurance company authorizes its agents to write policies on its behalf by way of an appointment.
Generally, an appointment is a legal authorization which allows an agent to act on behalf of an appointing insurance company and to enter into specific agreements with policy holders on its behalf. Generally, each agent is appointed for a given time, within a given state, with the authority to sell a particular set of products. Commonly, a single appointed agent can be responsible for creating millions of dollars in financial obligations for an appointing insurance company.
To assist in tracking each of their agents, appointing companies generally use a variety of agent identifying information. This agent identifying information generally includes assigned writing codes or other identifying numbers such as birth dates, social security numbers and the like. Additionally, agent identifying information may include other information such as an agent's name, address, telephone number and the like.
Insurance agents are generally paid commissions based upon the various terms and conditions of the policies they write and the commission schedules in their sales contracts. Among the pieces of information which may effect the payment and the amount of a commission are: the estimated commission processing date, which determines when a commission becomes payable; the face amount of policy written; the premium paid for the policy; the category or mode of the premium; the issue age of the policy; and the split percentage of the commission, if any. Each of these factors are generally combined by insurance companies to establish a gross commissionable amount which is multiplied by a specific commission rate agreed upon by the agent and the insurance company. By multiplying the gross commissionable amount by the commission rate, insurance companies and their agents generally determine a gross commission which is payable to the soliciting agent. Collectively, each piece of information used to derive an agent's commission may be included in the term agent commission information.
Presently, insurance companies track agent commission information and agent identifying information by maintaining and updating a set of paper files with the support of a computerized database system. Generally, direct access to information on this system is limited to administrators directly responsible for updating and maintaining these records. When updates are required, generally the responsible administrators make all of the necessary changes manually and then generate a letter or a phone call to the affected agent confirming the change. When the agent wishes to make a change or obtain information, the agent is responsible for calling or writing the insurance company to effect the change and the company, through its administrators, then updates its files accordingly.
As may be apparent, the present system for tracking agent identifying information and agent commission information has several drawbacks which makes it inadequate to manage large numbers of agents. First, the present system requires large numbers of people to oversee and manage the files and information for each agent. This makes the present system very expensive and burdensome on appointing companies. Secondly, even when the present system is properly staffed and maintained, the system still requires frequent contact between the appointing company and its agents. Thirdly, even with frequent contact, the present system is highly paper intensive and requires both the agent and their appointing companies to independently maintain and track agent identifying information and agent commission information. This results in the present system being very prone to human error and communication breakdowns.
Accordingly, there is a strong need in the insurance industry for a system which reduces the time and effort required to manage agent identifying information and agent commission information. Additionally, there is a strong need for a system which allows individual agents to easily access their agent identifying information and agent commission information.